


Seattle

by Joe_Reaves



Category: Empire Records (1995)
Genre: Angst, First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-10
Updated: 2010-04-10
Packaged: 2017-10-08 20:22:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/79173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joe_Reaves/pseuds/Joe_Reaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucas thinks he's screwed up too badly and leaves. Joe has to find him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seattle

Lucas crept into the store in the early hours of the morning and left the note in the centre of Joe's desk where he would be sure to see it first thing later this morning. He had gone straight home and packed up after the party. Fortunately, Joe still hadn't come home and, since his car wasn't parked outside the store, Lucas assumed he was out somewhere with Jane, celebrating the fact that Empire Records now belonged to him. Lucas sighed sadly – the gang had come through in the end and fixed things, but that didn't change the fact that his screw up had nearly cost Joe everything. Including his freedom, because Lucas had absolutely no doubt that if it had come to it Joe would have convinced Mitch that he had taken the money, not Lucas. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Joe, sitting on that swing, looking so lost and defeated as he talked about his father. And he, Lucas Walker, was the one who had put that look there. He was worse than Joe's father, at least the old man had had the excuse of being drunk whenever he dragged Joe down like that; Lucas didn't have any excuse except for his own natural stupidity. He locked up again and headed to the airport, not looking back in case his resolve faltered and he chose to stay. The gang would be better off without him. Empire records would be better off without him. And Joe would certainly be better off without him. If leaving was the only thing he could do to ensure Joe's happiness, well it was a small enough price to pay after for the care and attention Joe had given him over the last seven years.

Joe took a long pull on his beer and stared into the distance. He hadn't managed to get the nerve up to go home yet. He couldn't face Lucas after the way he had acted. He actually hit the kid! What kind of a person would try and beat the crap out of someone as defenceless as Lucas, especially if that person knew his history. After his mother dumped him on Children's Services he had been farmed out to foster family after foster family – each one worse than the last as far as Joe could tell. The family he'd been living with when Joe had found him barely fed him enough to keep a dog alive, let alone a teenage boy, and they used him as the family punch bag. Any time anything went wrong someone would take it out on Lucas – the father, the almost-grown teenage son, hell even the mother from what Lucas had told him. If Joe hadn't caught him shoplifting and somehow ended up keeping him, well Joe didn't want to think about what could have happened. It hadn't. He'd taken him in, fed him, made sure he went to school, given him a job … and then hit him. Joe buried his face in his hands. He'd belittled him, hit him, even threatened him with jail – which was stupid because no way in hell would he have let that happen to Lucas. He'd have made sure the blame fell on him – where it was deserved. He shouldn't have let Lucas close the store, he knew the way the kid's wicked mind worked, it should have been obvious that something would go wrong. And it wasn't like he took the money for himself; he was trying to help. Joe got up, a little unsteadily, and called a cab – no point adding drunk driving to his rapidly growing list of sins. It took him three attempts to unlock the front door, partly because he was drunk and partly because he was shaking at the thought of facing Lucas in this state. It turned out he shouldn't have worried. Lucas was nowhere to be seen. Joe assumed he was already asleep and fell into bed himself. It wasn't until the next morning that he noticed Lucas' books were gone from the coffee table and his bike wasn't outside.

Lucas wasn't at the store when Joe opened up either, which was unusual. Admittedly it usually took about ten minutes of cajoling by Joe, some strong coffee and the threat to drag him to work naked if he didn't get his ass out of bed and dressed now, but if he was supposed to be there to open, then that's where he was. Then Joe saw the plain white envelope on his desk, with his name written on it in Lucas' distinctive scrawl. He stood and stared at it for five minutes before Corey worriedly asked if there was a problem. He shook her off with some vague excuse, he's not sure what he said exactly, but it worked and she left. Sitting down he handled the envelope as if it was a bomb and might go off any minute. Eventually he had to open it and that's when the bottom fell out of his world.

Hey Joe,

I guess you've noticed that I'm not there by now. I decided it was time I found someone else's life to screw up for a change. Thought I'd just hit the road and  
see what I could find. I'll call some time, see how you guys are doing.

Later, boss!

Lucas

Joe yelled and threw his coffee cup into a wall. When the guys came running he growled at them all and sent them scurrying off to find more work to do. Eventually Mark tapped on the door and nervously asked if he was all right. From the way the others were all watching him, he was representing the whole dysfunctional gang. Probably drew the short straw, or the wrong colour M and M, Joe thought. He stalked past Mark and into the break room.

"All right everyone, since you're all so interested in my business lately," he growled. "Lucas quit. Congratulations AJ, that makes you the new night manager." The kids all started yelling at once and Joe had to shout them down. "No, I don't know where he is, he just left. No, he isn't coming back. No, I didn't fire him. Any other questions or are you actually going to try working for a change?"

Ten minutes later there was another knock on his door and when he looked up from the note, which he was staring at as if it held the answers to the universe, Corey was standing there. He invited her in and she sat down.

"You have to go after him, Joe," she told him. "He'll get into some kind of trouble and you won't be there to get him out. It's just wrong. He should be here. You can't let him leave like this."

"I don't get to 'let' Lucas do anything, Corey," he said tiredly. "I'm not his father and apparently I'm not even his employer any more. If he wants to go and see what else is out there, I can't stop him. Besides he's got a great deal of potential, he'll find his feet." Joe sighed and looked at the note again. Lucas sounded all right in the note, despite what Corey thought, and he'd probably be better off away from Empire Records. If he stayed he would spend his whole life there, Joe just knew it, and Lucas could do so much more if he wanted to. Trying to find him would be selfish and Joe wasn't going to do that to him.

The rest of the morning passed in the same vein. One by one his employees came in and told him to chase after Lucas – as if he was some kind of abandoned wife rather than an employer whose employee was moving on to better things – and one by one he told them to get lost. Lucas was better off out there, he had to believe that or he'd go mad. At least he wouldn't have to put up with Joe's foul temper any more. After lunch Deb walked in to his office and sat down.

"I wondered when I'd see you," he said. "Everyone else has already given me their opinions on Lucas' leaving. I assume it's your turn now." He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest.

"It's not my job to knock some sense into your head," she said matter of factly. "Even though you'd do it for any of us if we were acting like this. If you're happy with Lucas riding off into the sunset thinking he screwed everything up, then you should just let him go. Besides he's just an employee. You can always replace him, right Joe? Nothing special about Lucas." She shrugged fatalistically and left before Joe could reply.

He glared after her and looked at the letter again. Lucas didn't think that, did he? He was just leaving to do something else. "Time I found someone else's life to screw up". The words didn't seem like a joke anymore. Joe found himself absently stroking the paper, which is when he noticed something else. The paper wasn't uniformly smooth, it was dimpled in places as if … he cursed and grabbed his coat. The paper was tearstained, that was what caused the indentations. He threw his keys to AJ as he ran through the break room.

"You and Deb are in charge till I get back," he called.

"Wait," he shouted. "Where are you going, Joe?"

"To find Lucas!"

The trouble was, Joe realised as he sat in his car, that he didn't know where to start looking for Lucas. He decided to head home first, to see if Lucas had left him any kind of clue. He was halfway home when he saw it – Lucas' bike. He made a U-turn, right in the middle of the road, ignoring the squealing brakes and blown horns of the other road users and took off after it. The rider pulled over in front of an apartment block and Joe slewed the car across the road and slammed the brakes on.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Where did you get that bike?"

"What business is it of yours?" the rider snapped back

Joe grabbed him and shoved him into a wall. "It belongs to a friend of mine," he snarled. "Now where did you get it?"

"Hey!" the biker complained. "Calm down. If your friend is a skinny kid with dark hair – he sold it to me last night. At the airport. I gave him $1500 for it." Joe released him and ran back to his car, leaving the unfortunate man dusting himself off and muttering about lunatics who should be locked up. Joe parked the car and headed into the airport. It took him all morning and every ounce of charm he possessed but eventually he got a destination out of one of the check in clerks. Lucas had flown to Seattle. One way.

Joe called the store and Deb answered. "Hey, Deb, are you and AJ going to be all right?" he asked. "I could be gone a while."

"Where the hell is he?" she asked.

"Seattle," Joe told her.

"Where in Seattle, Joe?" she asked. "It's a big city."

"You're the one who told me to go after him," Joe complained.

"Actually I told you not to," she said. "Everyone else said to chase him. I assumed you were too stubborn to do what you were told and took a different approach. I still think you're doing the right thing though. It's just … Seattle's an awfully big place, Joe. How are you going to find him?"

"The traditional way – look," he snapped. "I know it's a big place, but I'm not coming back until I find him. So you'll just have to handle things yourselves. I call when I find a hotel so you know where I am in case of emergencies, but try not to have any. I've got problems of my own right now."

The long flight gave Joe even more time to think and curse himself for the way he had treated Lucas. He really did hope the young man would find happiness in another city, but he had to know. In all the time he had known him he had never seen Lucas actually cry and the thought that he had been the one to cause him to break down was tearing him apart. He didn't question why he felt this way – Lucas had been a part of his life for so long that it just seemed natural to worry about him. Just like it seemed natural to fly several thousand miles, without luggage, to see if he was all right.

Checking into a hotel was made more difficult by his lack of luggage, but he explained it had been lost by the airline and they were very sympathetic. Then he began looking for Lucas. Unfortunately, as Deb had pointed out, Seattle is a big place and he had no idea where to start. Two weeks later he was still staying in the same hotel, had spent a fortune on new clothes and toiletries and was still no closer to finding Lucas. AJ and Deb had taken to calling at least twice a day begging him to come home and promising never to make his job more difficult now they knew how much work it involved. He kept putting them off but a nagging voice at the back of his head said he would have to give up at some point.

He forced himself not to check with the police or at the hospitals, knowing that if he started considering all the things, which could have happened to Lucas, he'd drive himself insane. Instead he decided to start checking record shops. Assuming Lucas was all right then he would want to spend money on his passion – music. He hadn't realised quite how many music stores there were in Seattle, but he had a phone directory and was working his way through them. For now he was ignoring the big chains and concentrating on the independent shops.

As he approached the tenth store he'd visited this morning he saw a familiar head sticking out from behind a CD rack. He watched as Lucas smiled and hugged an older woman before engaging in some kind of animated conversation. She shook her head at him and he moved behind the counter and pulled something from one of the shelves, gesturing at it to prove his point. Joe watched for fifteen minutes before coming out of the near-trance he had drifted into. He turned to walk away, telling himself that he had come to Seattle to see if Lucas was all right and he was. There was no need to hang around or bring back bad memories by interrupting him. He resolutely quashed the stab of jealousy that had surfaced when he realised that Lucas had found a job in another record store and that he wasn't looking for something new to do, just somewhere new to do it. He only had himself to blame for driving Lucas away, he wasn't going to go and upset his new life just because he'd had his feelings hurt.

Inside the store the owner looked out of the window curiously. "That's odd," she said. "That man has been staring at the shop for at least a quarter of an hour. I wonder what he wants?" Her newest employee looked in the direction she pointed and dropped the CDs he was holding. All the colour drained from his face and he grabbed the counter to steady himself.

"Lucas?" she asked worriedly. "Are you all right? Do you need to sit down?" She had taken to the young man as soon as she had seen him looking at some of the CDs on the shelves wistfully a week ago. She had thought it odd that he was staring at a Rex Manning album, he didn't seem like the type, and she had asked him about it. At first he had just dismissed her concern, but soon he had broken down and told her his whole sad story. She had taken him into the back and fed him, in an echo of Joe's actions seven years earlier. When he had finished speaking she had offered him a job.

"Joe," he breathed softly. He looked down at the broken CD cases on the floor and began to gather them up.

Lindsey cleared her throat. "Lucas if that's your Joe, don't you think you should go after him?" she asked gently.

Lucas shook his head. "No, if he wanted to see me he'd have come in," he said sadly. "He just felt responsible for me and wanted to make sure I hadn't thrown myself off a bridge or something. He's like that."

Lindsey sighed in frustration. "Lucas he flew across the entire country to find you and must have spent a considerable amount of time looking for you. That's not responsible; it's insane! He obviously cares for you very much, but look at it from his point of view. You've got a job and you look happy here – you've forgotten about him and he cares enough to walk away from you because of it."

"No!" Lucas denied hastily. "I haven't forgotten him. I could never… I mean …" He stammered to a halt and looked at Lindsey helplessly.

"Then go and tell him that," she prompted him.

"I can't," Lucas sighed. "I … he's just being Joe. Honestly. It doesn't mean anything."

Lindsey took the CDs from him and pushed him towards the door. "He obviously loves you very much, Lucas," she told him. "Now go and give me my happy ending or else!"

He looked in the direction Joe had gone and then back at Lindsey, before a smile spread across his face. He kissed her enthusiastically. "Thank you," he called, running out of the door and after Joe.

"Joe," he called as he started to catch up to him. Joe stopped dead and turned around just as Lucas skidded to a halt in front of him.

"Lucas," he said neutrally. Not sure how to explain his actions. He looked the younger man over carefully. He looked just the same as the day he'd walked out of Joe's life.

Lucas started to move towards Joe to hug him and then stopped, nothing in Joe's bearing showed that he would welcome such a move. "You're here," he said. "In Seattle. Not New Jersey."

Joe nods. "Yes, I …," he starts and then tails off, not wanting to admit he flew out here just to find Lucas. "I was in the area and …"

"You were?" Lucas asks his face falling. Lindsey had been wrong; Joe wasn't looking for him it was just a coincidence.

Joe saw the hurt in Lucas eyes and cursed himself. All he ever seemed to do was hurt Lucas. Well if humiliating himself and admitting that he had chased after him like some kind of lovesick schoolgirl … He gasped in shock. Shit! How could he not have realised it. That was exactly why he had followed Lucas and hunted for him so desperately. It was why he had been jealous when he saw where Lucas worked. He was in love with Lucas, had been for a long time, but he hadn't realised it until Lucas left and took his heart with him.

Lucas saw Joe's expression and assumed that Joe had worked out how he felt. He flushed and wished he hadn't listened to his new boss. Now Joe would hate him and that was even worse than never seeing the older man again. His eyes filled with tears and he looked away. Joe reached out and took Lucas' face in his hands, wanting to lean down and kiss the tears away, but not quite daring.

"No," he said huskily. "I wasn't in the area. I was looking for you. I flew out here the day after you left and I've been looking ever since. I know you've already got a new life here, but I wanted you to know how much we all miss you. Especially me. Nothing's been the same since you left and I just…" He sighed. "I know I treated you badly, but I just wanted you to know that. If you ever need anything, please call me. I …" he swallowed hard around the lump in his throat. "I love you, Lucas, and I didn't even realise it until I saw you again. I know you don't feel the same, but I needed to tell you and to tell you how sorry I am for what I did."

Lucas froze, hardly daring to breathe, as Joe told him everything he wanted to hear. He gulped. "But you didn't do anything, Joe. I did. I screwed up and you protected me again and I didn't even thank you for it. You always fix everything when I mess up and I left because I thought you'd be better off without me, but here you are," he said in wonder. "Fixing things again." He threw his arms around Joe's neck and held him tightly. Joe hesitated and then returned the hug. He had Lucas in his arms and he didn't even seem to realise how badly Joe had treated him and that was enough, it was more than he could ever have hoped for. Then Lucas turned his head and his mouth blindly sought Joe's own. Joe let Lucas kiss him, forcing himself not to react to what was surely gratitude and nothing more. Then Lucas traced his lips with his tongue and Joe was lost. He held Lucas head in place and plundered his mouth ruthlessly. Lucas moaned and tried to get even closer to him. The sound brought Joe back to reality and he pulled back. Lucas moaned and tried to follow him.

"We can't, Lucas," he said huskily. "Not here." Lucas looked around in surprise; he'd forgotten they were in the middle of the street. He blushed.

"I love you Joe," he said. "Can I come home?"

Joe traced his lips reverently. "Always," he vowed. "You never have to leave, Lucas. No matter what."

Lucas wanted to drag Joe off somewhere private, but Joe insisted on waiting. He made Lucas show him around Seattle and introduce him to the people he had met during his two week stay. Lucas took him back to the music store and introduced him to Lindsey and if Joe kept his hand possessively on Lucas shoulder the whole time, well Lindsey pretended not to notice. Lucas took him to a small café he'd discovered for lunch and then Joe took him sightseeing. The two of them visited everything that they hadn't cared about in the last two weeks, they laughed and talked and kissed, gradually relaxing around one another and regaining the easy relationship which had been shattered by Lucas' departure. When the evening came Lucas took Joe to his bed-sit and they packed his stuff and paid off his landlord. Finally Joe took him back to the hotel.

Joe unlocked the hotel room and gestured for Lucas to go first. The younger man stopped dead just inside the room and stared in amazement. The bed was covered in rose petals of all colours. Beside the bed was a bottle of champagne, chilling in an ice bucket, and under the window there was a table set for two, with a room service cart next to it. He turned and looked at Joe in wonder.

"You really did all this for me?" he asked. "How? When?"

Joe shrugged. "I made a couple of calls while you were packing. I wanted to show you how much you mean to me. I know you felt like we'd be better off without you and I never want you to feel that way again. I need you to know how important you are – to me and to everyone else at the store too. The place was empty without you."

"Joe, I was gone for less than a day before you came after me, how could you know what the store was like without me?" Lucas asked, laughing.

Joe shook his head, "No, you don't know Lucas. It was quiet without you. It was knowing you weren't coming back, although admittedly it would have been quieter if the gang hadn't taken turns telling me to come after you."

"So you came because they told you to?" Lucas asked in a more subdued voice.

"No," Joe denied. "Well, yes, mainly because Deb politely and firmly tricked me into pulling my head out of my ass, but I thought you wanted to leave. I thought you'd decided you'd be happier elsewhere and I couldn't come after you and tie you down to the store, to me. It would have been selfish. It's why I walked away this morning. All I want is for you to be happy, Lucas. If you weren't happy with me then I would never force you to stay."

Lucas buried his head in Joe's chest and clung to him as the older man's arms came around him. "We're a pair of idiots, you know. I left because I didn't want to hurt you and you nearly let me go for the same reason. I promise I will never run away from you again, Joe, because I love you. But you have to promise that if for some reason I get stupid again and leave, you'll come after me and drag me home."

Joe tilted Lucas' face up to his and kissed him. "I promise, Lucas. After the last two weeks I may never let you out of my sight again anyway." He kissed him again, moaning as Lucas mouth opened under his and a probing tongue met and entwined with his own. He groaned and then pulled back breathing heavily. "Dinner, Lucas," he gasped. "I ordered dinner for us both."

Lucas just clung to him more tightly and nipped at his neck. "Later, Joe. All I want now is you, please don't make me wait any longer."

Joe growled and picked Lucas up. He shrieked in surprise and then laughed, wrapping his legs tightly round Joe's waist as the older man carried him to the bed. He lowered him to the bed and leaned over him, plundering his mouth again as he did so. Lucas moaned and arched up against him, tugging at his shirt, which, as usual, was already partially unbuttoned.

"Take it off, Joe," he pleaded. "I want to see you and touch you." Joe groaned, his cock hardening even more at the idea of this sexy, young man lying on his bed and begging to be able to make love to him. He stood up again and quickly stripped down to his boxers. He didn't have the patience to draw it out and tease Lucas. All he wanted was to feel Lucas' hands on his skin and to return the favour. When he was done he helped Lucas to undress and then laid back down next to his soon-to-be lover. He ran one hand gently across Lucas' chest and over one hip. Lucas moaned and reached for him, pulling him closer until they were pressed together along the entire length of their bodies. They both moaned at the sensation and Lucas pulled Joe into another passionate kiss. He wrapped one leg around Joe's hip and pulled him even closer, thrusting his cock against Joe's. Joe groaned and pulled away from Lucas' delicious mouth to work his way down the younger man's body. He used his teeth and tongue to make a deep purple coloured mark at the base of his throat and then began kissing his way across Lucas' chest. He was distracted by one rosy nipple and pulled it into his mouth. When he did so Lucas cried out and tangled one hand in Joe's long hair, the other clutched desperately at the sheet beneath him as he arched up into Joe's mouth. Joe licked and sucked the nipple for long minutes, pinching it between his teeth and causing Lucas to shout his name. He then kissed his way across his chest and lavished the same attention on the other nipple. By this time Lucas was moaning and squirming in pleasure, his arousal tenting his boxers and digging in to Joe's hip. Joe slid lower, dipping his tongue into Lucas naval and causing the younger man to squeal with laughter and try to get away. Joe filed this new knowledge of Lucas' weakness away for later use and then tugged the boxers down so that Lucas' cock was right in front of him. He licked his lips and swallowed it down in one movement. Lucas screamed and tried to arch off the bed, but was held in place by Joe's strong hands. Joe pulled back and lapped at the head, savouring the salty taste of his lover's arousal.

"Please, Joe," Lucas begged. "I can't take any more, please." Joe leaned up and kissed him softly.

"Will you let me make love to you?" he asked.

"Yes, please," Lucas said, grabbing him and kissing him again. He kicked his boxers off completely and pulled Joe's off as well. Joe helped him turn over on to his stomach and slid a pillow under him so that his ass was in the air. Joe leaned forward and kissed him on each cheek and then ran his tongue down the crack and across his asshole. Lucas moaned and pushed back, but Joe just laughed and pulled back. He looked around for something to use as lube, eventually grabbing the massage oil that he had ordered along with the roses and everything else. He popped the cap and drizzled it over Lucas ass, smiling as Lucas shivered and wriggled as the cool liquid slid over his ass and down towards his balls. Joe ran his fingers through the oil and over Lucas' asshole before slowly dipping the tip of one finger inside. Lucas moaned and pushed back against him, causing Joe's finger to slide deeper into him. He thrust it in and out a couple of times to get Lucas used to the feeling before adding a second and then a third.

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Lucas?" he asked. "We don't have to do this."

"No!" Lucas moaned. "Please. I need you."

Joe coated his cock with more of the oil and then pushed the head past the tight muscle and into Lucas' ass. Once in he froze, stroking Lucas' back gently as he adjusted to Joe's size. Then Joe slowly pushed further forwards until he was all the way in. Lucas moaned and pushed back and onto his hands and knees. Joe groaned at the feeling of Lucas surrounding him and welcoming him in and began to thrust, slowly at first and then harder and faster. Soon he was slamming in to Lucas and he was pushing back eagerly to meet each thrust. Joe reached around and grasped Lucas' cock in his still slippery hand and began stroking him in time with his thrusts. Lucas cried out and his ass clamped down around Joe's cock as he spilled his seed over Joe's hand. Joe moaned and grabbed Lucas' hip hard, thrusting once more before joining him in ecstasy. The two of them slumped to the bed, hearts pounding and their breath coming in gasps. When Joe moved to pull out Lucas reached around and stopped him.

"Please, stay," he asked. Joe began raining kisses over his shoulders and neck before rolling both of them on to their sides, still embedded in Lucas' ass. He pulled him even closer and wrapped his arm around him, feeling Lucas gradually drift off into sleep in his arms. He pressed a gentle kiss to Lucas temple and closed his own eyes, just for a moment. The stress of the last two weeks finally caught up with him and he too fell asleep, wrapped around Lucas and still buried deep inside him.


End file.
